Rotor EXP Review

The Peavey Rotor EXP guitar combines '80s metal looks with high-tech design and components. This all-mahogany, neck-through-body guitar delivers awesome tone and sustain without making you perform a balancing act on stage. The patented Dual-Compression Bridge System is a unique string-through design, creating a metal-to-metal connection for unbelievable sustain and stronger string presence.

Rotor EXP
Reviewed by:
AsShadowsRemain, on may 22, 2006 2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Price paid: $ 315.961

Purchased from: Ted Good Music

Features: This is an Indonesian made Rotor EXP. It's got 24 frets, a floyd rose/Peavey liscensed tremolo, 2 high output humbuckers, 3-way switch, 2 master volume and 1 master tone pots. The body is all mahogany and the fingerboard is rosewood. The model I purchased is Black with white binding. The body looks strikingly like an Explorer but with extra cuts in the body. The pickup configuration is H/H. the tuners are grover and have rubber non-slip rings. The electronics are passive. // 10

Sound: I play a lot of metal and hard rock and this guitar suits my playing style completely. I compared it to several Ibanez models and I chose this because this guitar matches my personality 100%. So far I've only been able to use a Peavey Valveking 112, and a small 10 watt practice amp with it and it sounds awesome. Since the body is full mahogany it has a very chunky low end and rounded high and mids. This guitar excels at lead and scorching riffs. With the floyd and the 3-way switch you can get some pretty neat sounds out of this guitar. // 9

Action, Fit & Finish: The guitar was set up perfect at the factory, intonation and action was perfect and tuning was also perfect. The pickups were also very well adjusted, with the bridge slightly slanted to give extra treble for those crazy leads. I only give it an 8 here because there was one small flaw in the finish when I bought it but every guitar you'll find will have some small flaw in the finish. The hardware is satin black and matches the body paint color very well. This guitar was perfectly set up and tuned before it was shipped. // 8

Reliability & Durability: I haven't tried yet but I'm sure this guitar will be able to withstand live playing as it weighs about 10 pounds and feels rock solid. The hardware is very high quality and will last for a long time, judged by experience with same hardware on other guitars. The strap buttons are also huge on this guitar. I bought strap locks with it but the screw is too small for the front of the strap peg, and so I only have 1 strap lock, which is on the back strap peg of the guitar. The finish is very thick and durable. It will last because I have already banged it once or twice and no dents, scratches or nothing. // 9

Overall Impression: Since I play a lot of metal and hard rock, and this guitar was in black, I was tempted to try it out when I got to Ted Goods. To my surprise it surpassed my expectations and stunned me with how high of quality it has. I have been playing for about 4 years, and I have a Peaver Raptor EXP which is a great beginners guitar, but nothnig else. I asked everythnig I wanted to know before I bought this guitar so I would not be buying something I would have no clue how to use. If it were stolen or lost, I would not hesitate to buy it again. If I could not find the same model I would get a Peavey V-Type NTB TR in black. The thing I like the most about this guitar is its outstanding quality and playability. My favorite feature is the licsensed floyd rose which is absolutely stunning as I have used it heavily and I haven't had to tune once. I compared this guitar to 3 otehr Ibanez models and I was very dissapointed with them. In the end I went home with my new Peavey Rotor EXP. Peavey guitars are underrated and this is proof that they make excellent guitars, at an excellent price. Overall, I recommend this guitar for soemone who wants to play lead, or fast riffs. // 9

Rotor EXP
Reviewed by:
Kain_Doom01, on july 11, 2006 0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Price paid: $ 405

Purchased from: Freehold Music Center

Features: It has cool Grover pickups with holes in them, it's pretty cool, and the headstock fits the design well. The top strap holder isn't where I wanted it to be. I prefer them on the back of the body, the strap stays on much better, but it's really no biggie. The string presance and sustain is in no way what they advertise, it's far superior. It sounds very good accoustic, so I can practice unplugged! I love that.
The body is an EX, with some nice cut-outs that give it an edgy look. It's got a string-through style stringing, but a tune-o-matic bridge look-alike, and the dual-compression headstock keeps this baby in tune forever! The only inlay on mine is on the 12th Fret, it reads, "Limited Edition." It's got 2 volume and 1 tone controls, which alternate sometimes depending on which of the 3 selections you are using. It can give you the "Sweet Child O' Mine" sound, no problem! It sounds mind blowing through a pwavey amp, but it's orgasmic through a Marshall! I use it whenever I can, this guitar I can rely on for anything! I can play rhythm, lead, slow, fast, bad, good, it doesn't matter! My only problems are that it came with no case, no strap, but I got 2 sets of strings of my choice with it XD. So I'll give it an 8. // 8

Sound: This guitar can fit any rock, metal, or shred guitarist! The look, the feel, and more importantly, the sound. I can do anytrhing with this guitar, I like to make wierd sounds using my pick and bending the strings down and up, closer and further from the pickups, it keeps the sound clean as it can be, and doesn't go out of tune! I play Live a lot, so I have to rely on my guitars to be in tune, and stay that way. This one, I don't even have to think about! In no way is this guitar noisy, I can't hear any feed back from it, and it's no problem to get it when I need to either XD If you ever get the chance to try this baby out, put it through a Screamin' Demon Wah pedal. You'll wanna buy both XD. Oh man, I don't know what pick-ups these are, but they are hot. // 10

Action, Fit & Finish: I was very lucky, and this guitar had no problems with it's physical self, other than the strap holder's location, but it's Action is right-on, and the dots are on the right frets on the side of the neck. The finish was a very solid black, and that oil slick thing is very flattering to it, it also boasts a Cream binding all around the guitar. The high end frets are a little diffacult to reach if your hands are smaller, but long bony fingers, or fat long ones like mine will have no problem. // 10

Reliability & Durability: I always play live, like I sai before, even when I record, I edit minimally from the original take, and this guitar is perfect for me. The sound is professional and I payed far less than a professional guitar. The hardware seems like it'll last a lifetime, none of it is plastic, except for the pickup barriers and the bridge, and the prodominant menal guitars last the longest! The strap buttons are big, use cloth straps, Leatherones will kill you putting them on. // 10

Overall Impression: I play mostly Metal, like Gwar, I love Gwar, they are geniouses, anyway, this guitar looks great against black, or white backgrounds, and since I'm into gwar, I'll have black backgrounds behind me and red will accent the black aswell. I have been playing for about 3 years and I own an ESP Viper FM-100, Ibanez IC-400, a Simon Strat signed by AC/DC, a Marshall MC-100 Head/Cab, a Roland Mini Cube, and I've never, in all the guitars I've tried out, heard this sound at this price. I wish this guitar had something for me to stick my, I wish it had 2 tone and 2 volume controls, then it'd be perfect. It wouldn't be stolen, this is never left alone, trust me, I take it everywhere. I love everything about this guitar except the top strap button, which I hate. My favorite feature is it vibrates, the entire body, that make amazing sound! But I ruin pants that way. I wish I asked for new pants before buying it. I compaired this to a Les Paul Standard, the Les Paul won, but this came very close, so I bought it, you would've too. // 10

Rotor EXP
Reviewed by:
Wuztastic, on may 23, 2014 0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Price paid: $ 560

Purchased from: From a friend

Features: My Fender Rotor EXP was made in Korea. It has 24 thin frets and the fretboard is rosewood (some sources say it's ebony but I'm certain mine's rosewood). It has Grover tuners (not sure if it's locking or not). The body and neck are both mahogany. It has two volume knobs and a single tone knob as well as a 3 way selector switch. The pickup setup is H-H and both pickups are hot and passive.. Mine came with a gig bag. Mine does not have a tremolo but there are some out there with tremolo systems. The body is like an explorer but has extra cutaways to give it an edgier design. It has a locking strap holder and an all black finish with abalone trim. The neck is not bolt on and I believe it's set-in neck but it could be all one piece of wood. Overall, there's nothing fancy about this guitar but it isn't skimp on features and gets the job done. // 7

Sound: I play mostly metal (High on Fire, Baroness, Mutoid Man, Electric Wizard, Acid Bath, and Sleep are my main influences) and this guitar gets the job done pretty good. The pickups aren't amazing, but they can take a fair amount of gain without being too muddy. With a new set of pickups, this guitar would sound very very good. The mahogany wood makes this guitar a bit darker sounding but the pickups aren't active so the tone is fairly bright and warm. You could get a fair amount of tones out of this thing. I can see someone using this guitar for playing AC/DC covers or jamming to Nirvana tunes, but I think this guitar excels a lot at getting '80s and '90s metal tones, specifically thrash and death metal. Slayer, Kreator, Morbid Angel, and even Cryptopsy sound pretty damn good when ran through this guitar. Pretty much the only thing this guitar would be bad at is getting a good classic rock sound. Stuff like Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin would sound a bit odd in this guitar. It's passable, but it's not it's strong suit. I'm also not a fan of the neck pickup. Besides for getting dark cleans, it's sounds really muddy and cheap and the bridge pickup sounds much better. // 8

Action, Fit & Finish: The guitar was set up pretty good when I got it (it's used, however, so I'm not sure if it's been set up out of factory or what). Nothing is wrong with the tuners or knobs. The switch isn't lose and works fine. There's a few nicks and scratches, but that's expected if you buy a guitar used. As far as how the guitar looks, it's ugly. I hate plain black finishes and I'm not a fan of abalone. Overall, it doesn't feel really cheap. Everything is together and it feels okay. Some might not like the thin frets, but you get used to them. // 7

Reliability & Durability: The guitar has locking strap holders but if you're going to be gigging a lot, locking tuners are recommended. But it seems well made and built. Since it's Korean made, I would have a backup, but you could probably toss it around and beat it a bit and be perfectly fine. I don't take particularly good care of my instruments and if this guitar has handled my abuse, it can likely withstand most other people's abuse (assuming you don't hit it against a brick-filled fridge or pour gasoline all over it). I'd say it's trustworthy enough. // 7

Overall Impression: Overall it's a good intermediate guitar. If you can pick this guitar up for 500-700 bucks, I say go for it. It's got a good sound for hard rock and metal, it's solid, it's not cheap, and if you ever want, you can buy new pickups and locking tuners and you've got yourself a damn good guitar. The main downsides are that it's kinda ugly (unless you get a sunburst EXP, that one looks pretty damn sexy) and that the thin frets aren't very comfortable (you get used to them, however.) The neck pickup is also pretty subpar and sounds really muddy. The bridge pickup is decent. I'd recommend this to any intermediate guitarist who wants to get a new guitar or for anyone who wants a solid guitar but is on a budget. // 8

Kain_Doom01 wrote:
I have that guitar, and oh my god, it is so damn awesome XD It's sound is very VERY good through my Marshall, and I love it to death, the sustain is pro quality, and i bought it for 440$!!!

if you go on the peavey website, youll see the EXP is 1000$ CDN (which is now worth more than US), while the EX is 400 something, i got teh EXP for teh 400 dollars but i proudly say it cost a grand, im not sure there is much difference, i got mine with teh floyd and it just rocks so hard, it's in competion with my bud Ibanez S

Ive had this for 2 months now, its better than i expected, the pickups are rather impressive soundwise,very edged and hardcore... it looks a beauty and is heavy but still is comfortable, the floyd is smooth as ever its not at all flimsy, its a good break away from all those guitars that everyoone else has

My Rotor Limited made in Korea bought in Bosnia for about 1100 USD (now, than les than 1000) is great guitar for metalheads. Great hi gain tone, little to blur when plays clean but with some stomp boxes U can make it sing. It brakes when used with proper amp in my case vith Randall V2 head and Randall RS 125 CX box. All bottom end trequencies goes out of it and you can control them with eq. control on amp not to make to much noise.
This guitar is also good for show of, a mean realy, it looks so nice, beautifull guitar. I have bunch of girls and groopies who wants to make photos with my Rotor with or withou me. I am not important at all. Rotor is real choise for all metal guitarists.
Cheers guyz... regards from bosnia.
Antidope band

Just bought one of these Rotors in black and I love it. This guitar is very well thought out and I love the details like the string through bridge, the hollow tuners, and the angled jack. The abalone binding is stunning too, and adds just enough flash to dress the guitar up without detracting from the menace of its shape.

I live in Australia, I cant find these in any online stores or even ebay (well actually I found a white one but I'm looking for a black one) and the stores over here are all hopeless and very expensive. Is there anyway I can special order one of these from Peavey directly?

I just bought the EXP Ltd Edition (Pearl White) & I have also had the EX (in Red w/Floyd). Both have EXP on the headstock. They are both good in their own right but I just love the Ltd Edition I just bought (no Floyd). I'm a player of 30 years (my band = Concrete Sox). If you see one of these = BUY IT!